Discovering my voice in art was a gradual process. When I returned to making art a few years ago, I was driven by the desire to convey the emotional, ethereal, spiritual experience of swimming with wild dolphins. Words did not suffice, so I had to express visually. Initially, I used colored pencils to sketch the dolphins in their oceanic playground. That was my most comfortable medium, stemming from years of using them to draw abstract, geometric mandalas. Infinity 2 (0317) Colored Pencil: … [Read more...] about Finding My Art Voice
pastels
Artist Postseason
I wrapped up my painting season just after the Red Sox wrapped up their third World Series win in the past decade. (Go Sox!) As a pastelist, I must paint outdoors en plein air. Otherwise, the pastel dust would make a mess of my home studio. My painting time is thus limited to warmer weather: I begin as early as April and usually stop in October. When the temperature dips below 50, it's simply too cold for me to stand at my easel. I now enter my "postseason". One of the first things I do is … [Read more...] about Artist Postseason
Painting Kripalu’s Labyrinth
Painting outdoors is often called "painting plein air." I didn't realize until recently that there are strong disagreements about what exactly constitutes "plein air" painting. One art group insists that "true plein air painting is always completed from beginning to end on site with the subject matter before the artist." Other groups allow some flexibility, with standards ranging anywhere from 90% to 45% of the painting being completed on site in one sitting. There's a great article about this … [Read more...] about Painting Kripalu’s Labyrinth
Painting Delicate Arch
My trip to the Southwest in the fall of 1995 included a visit to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. There are unusual sandstone formations, turrets, and arches there, many of enormous size. One of the more memorable ones is Delicate Arch. We began our hike to Delicate Arch in mid-morning, a bit of a mistake in the 100 degree heat on a trail with no shade! We carried plenty of water and moved determinedly up the path, which climbs gradually enough to provide a pleasant challenge. Along the way, … [Read more...] about Painting Delicate Arch